Real Salt Lake's 2007 campaign looks hauntingly familiar. The team has not won a Major League Soccer match in 15 consecutive attempts, dating back to last season. The injuries seem to be piling up, trades are being made constantly and the coach is trying a different lineup in every game.
It's a lot like RSL's inaugural 2005 season -- that year, Real went 5-22-5 and finished at the bottom of the league standings. But at the rate RSL are going, a five-win season might seem like a blessing.
"A lot of it is mental. As a team, you get down on it, so we just have to work on eliminating mistakes, that's the bottom line," said recently-acquired forward Alecko Eskandarian. "We are good enough to score on any team and to shut out any team, but it's not worth it just to talk about it or just to have a reputation -- you've got to go out there and do it."
Eskandarian was acquired by Real when they traded Jeff Cunningham, last year's Golden Boot winner, to Toronto. And this week, Real traded away another solid veteran, Chris Klein, to the L.A. Galaxy in exchange for a pair of youngsters, Robbie Findley and Nathan Sturgis. It was a trade that coach Jason Kreis agonized over, and one that left some scratching their heads.
"A bunch of teams came looking for Chris Klein at the 11th hour, and it was something that I never even considered," Kreis said. "It's not like I would ever shop him, and it was a very, very difficult decision for me, with a lot of emotions involved for me."
Klein had started every game and played every minute for Real Salt Lake thus far in the season, but Kreis is looking to get RSL back into the win column soon.
"At the end of the day, I looked at it long and hard and tried to look at it stepping back from it, professionally, and thought it was the right decision, and I still think it is," Kreis said. "[Findley] is not somebody that I'm just bringing in to put into my long-term plan, and neither is Nathan Sturgis. These are players that I think can step onto the field and add something for us right now."
However, it may be a while before both players start. Findley dropped out midway through Friday's training session. Findley said it was because of the high altitude air at Rice-Eccles stadium; Kreis mentioned an injury, but would not provide details.
"I've got some game-time decisions tomorrow, and I would like to not have that situation, but we do," Kreis said.
While Kreis debates over how to use Findley in Saturday's home game against D.C. United, Sturgis is away with the U.S. under-20 national team, preparing for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. RSL's Freddy Adu and Chris Seitz also are with the U-20 team. All three might not be available again until mid-July.
On the bright side, RSL do have Carey Talley available again. Talley has been out with an injury for the past month, but has trained with the team all week and will be ready to start, if needed.
"He's coming along very well," Kreis said. "It's been quite a while since we've had him available for us, so it's nice to have the availability of putting a veteran player like that back on our field. So we're excited about that prospect."
To be sure, D.C. will be looking for revenge in Saturday's match. The last time D.C. played at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Cunningham hit home a pair of penalty kicks during stoppage time to give Real a 2-1 come-from-behind victory.
But even if United did not have the extra motivation of revenge to feed off, they still would present a difficult challenge for RSL. Eskandarian, who played for D.C. last year, is looking forward to the challenge.
"They pride themselves on being the cream of the crop," Eskandarian said. "They have a bit of an arrogance to them, but they earned it. Year in and year out, they are one of the best teams, but we have something to prove as well on our home field. We are going to come out with a sense of pride, and I guess try to shut them up."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the aprpoval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
